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CHAPTER III: THE MEANS OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE

The Self Is Not an Object, Everyone Knows Objects but No One Knows the Subject, Vedanta Is Not a Philosophy, It Is Not a Religion or a Spiritual Path, It Is Not Channeled Information, It Is Revealed Knowledge, It Is Knowledge of Everything, What Is Knowledge? How Does Vedanta Work? You Can’t Study Vedanta, Listening, Reflecting, Assimilation.

The words Advaita Vedanta, like the word Hinduism, are a misnomerbecause they imply other Vedantas. The word ‘Advaita’ means non-dualand implies the concept of duality. Indeed, those who view Vedanta as aschool of thought speak of Dwaita Vedanta, dualistic Vedanta,VishistAdvaita Vedanta, qualified non-dualism, and even Bhakti Vedanta,devotional Vedanta. Or they compare it with philosophies or religions thatpresent similar ideas.

The word ‘Advaita’ is not an adjective meant to modify a particulartype of Vedanta but a word that describes the nature of the Self. Keeping inmind that words are always symbols, although non-dual implies dual, it ismore appropriate to refer to the Self as non-dual than as one since one is a number that implies two, many, and even zero, nothing. Furthermore, itwould be inappropriate to label Vedanta, which is merely a means ofknowledge, as non-dual because it is in fact a dualistic device operating in adualistic situation, one that ironically delivers non-dual knowledge.The ultimate source of Vedanta’s teachings are the Upanishads,documents appended to the concluding portion of each Veda. In fact theword Vedanta is a compound. Veda means knowledge and anta means end.On an exoteric level the term indicates the Upanishads, the texts containingits seed teachings, because they are situated at the end of each Veda. On theesoteric level, it means the non-dual knowledge that ends the belief inoneselfas a limited being. Because of the cryptic nature of the Upanishad mantras,the subtle nature of the subject matter, the Self, and the fact that a singleSanskrit word often has many possible meanings, it is possible to interpretthe statements of the Upanishad differently. Over the course of time therehave been a number of great teachers of Vedanta who interpreted thestatements of the Upanishads in different ways. But this does not amount todifferent schools of thought because all of them accepted Vedanta as ameans of Self knowledge.Although Vedanta is often erroneously accused of being anintellectual discipline, it operates differently from them because it does notleave concepts behind in the mind once it has been handled by a teacher.It uses concepts to destroy false concepts about the nature of the Self. Andin the process both the correct idea and the erroneous idea disappear into thevision of oneself as the Self. Since the emphasis is on removal of doubt, anyinterpretation of a mantra can be applied to remove the doubt, irrespective ofother interpretations. For a given person one interpretation may beappropriate while the same interpretation may be inappropriate for anotherbecause he or she entertains a different doubt or formulates the doubt in adifferent way. Irrespective of the interpretation, Vedanta acts as a means ofknowledge if it removes one’s ignorance of one’s limitless nature.If I want to see an object I need only use my eyes. If my ears do nothear the object while my eyes are seeing it their testimony does notinvalidate what my eyes see. If I want to gain the knowledge of my Self Ineed to dispassionately expose myself to the teachings of Vedanta to seewhether or not what it says is true. Because they are concerned with adifferent reality, perceptions and inferences about things in the world do notin any way invalidate the vision of Vedanta."

In my understanding advaita-vedanta means that the Self, the Atman, and the (little) self, the jiva, are not two, not seperated, not divided. The (little) self, the jiva, is the (genuine) expression of the Atman by the body-mind currantly being alive. And the Atman (the Self) is expressing itself via the jiva, the self.

"That's all."

I refer to myself as Self/self because that makes it obvious that I consider myself as non-dual in the sense that I'm not seperated from my body-mind through which I express what ever it is I express. And the (rasta) term "I and I" is a good way to point to that non-dual awareness, the non-seperation of jiva and Atman, IMHO also.

And not to offend Swami Dayananda, but I think his whole Bhagavad-Gita course is far too detailed for a regular seeker to be able to see through it's basic teachings. Sometimes, being a (sanskrit) scholar, can be a distraction. About two thousand pages of commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita is not for those who have (worldly) things to do. It's for "experts" who have far too much spare-time.

If the foot-notes are more than ten times longer than the original text one is commenting on, that's a sign.